Seeding-machine



I (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. M. FENDER & J. L. RITER..

SEEDING MACHINE- No. 486,637. Patented Nov. 22, 1892 W I lb-WM) I 5 ITNESEE s re NVENTOR "WW TH- KNEY Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. M. FENDER & J.,L'. RITE-R. SEEDING MACHINE.

No. 486,637. Patented Nov. 22, 1892.

I I 'J' (No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIcE.

JOHN M. FENDER, OF LIBERTY, AND JOHN L. RITER, OF BROWVNSVILLE, INDIANA.

SEEDlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 486,637, dated November22, 1892.

Application filed July 9, 1892- Serial No. 439,499. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that .we, JOHN M. FENDER, of Liberty, andJOHN L. RITER, ofBrownsville, Union county, Indiana, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Seeding- Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention pertains to improvements in that class ofseeding-machines generally termed one-horse grain-drills; and ourimprovements will be readily understood from the following description,taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l isa side elevation of a seedingmachine exemplifying our invention; Fig. 2,a perspective view of the rear ends of one of the outside drag-bars,showing its method of attachment to the drill-hoes, and Fig. 3 a bottomView of the main parts of the machine.

In the drawings, A indicates the main frame of the machine, consistingof two fore-and-aft piecesjoined at the front by a cross-piece; B, theusual seed-box secured across the rear end of the frame; 0, the usualseed-cups attached to the bottom of the box, one seed-cup for eachdrill-hoe; D, a hanger projecting downwardly and inwardly from theforward portion of each side piece of the frame; E, the main wheelsecured to a shaft journaled in these hangers,

the wheel being disposed centrally of the width of the machine; F, adrive-chain for transmitting motion from the wheel E to the seedingdevices under the seed-box; G, a pair of wheels supporting the rear endof the frame, one at each side of the machine, which wheels may becaster-Wheels or not, as desired; H, a

pair of levers pivoted under the front crosspiece of the frame andhaving their inner ends connected, as by a segment of gear-teeth on eachlever, so that the levers will oscillate in unison, the pivots of theselevers being located about one-half as far from the outer ends of thelevers as from the inner ends; J, the pivots on which the leversH rock;K, the outside drag-bars of the machine, having the usual drill-hoes attheir rear ends, each of these outside drag-bars extending forwardly tothe front of the machine and there being bifurcated and attached to itsappropriate wheel E, the forward ends of this drag-bar bep ing hinged tothe front cross-piece of the frame, so that the drag-bar may rise orfall at its rear end; M, the inner drag-bars disposed intermediatelybetween the center drag-bars and the outer dra -bars, these innerdrag-bars being bifurcated at their forward ends, the outer member ofthe bifurcation attaching to the outer end of the appropriate lever H,while the inner member of the bifurcation attaches to the frontcross-piece of the frame, the attachments being by horizontal pivots, asin the case of the other drag-bars, so that their rear ends may rise orfall; N, the points of attachment between the inner members of thebifurcation of the inner bar and the front cross-piece of the frame; 0,a hand-lever provided with an ordinary detent-segment to serve as ameans for adjusting the drill-hoes sidewise to adjust the distancebetween rows to be planted; P, a connection reaching from this lever tothe inner ends of the levers H, this connection being formed in twoparts, so that the connection may be extended in length by tensionalstrain; Q, a spring engaging the two parts of this connection andresisting its extension of length; R, the usual drill-hoes pivoted tothe rear ends of the drag-bars; S, a spring, one for each drag-bar,having its forward end bolted to the drag-bar and having its rear endengaging a projection from the drillhoe forward of the pivot whichunites the drill -hoe to the drag-bar, this point of connection betweenthe rear end of the spring and the drill-hoe being slightly above thegeneral horizontal plane of the spring; T, a bolt secured in ahorizontal slot in the drag-bar under the spring and forming a fulcrumover which the spring may flex; U, the outer elements of the outerdrag-bars, the drag-bars being double, as usual, these outer membersextending rearwardly beyond the pivots which unite the drag-bars to thedrill-hoes and then turning inwardly and forwardly alongside the innerelement of the drag-bar and joining with the inner element in supportingthe drill-hoe pivot and the supports of the springs; V, a sliding weightadustable along the portions U of the outer drag-bars; W, a rockerextending across the machine over the dragbars; X, a two-partconnection, one for each drag-bar, extending from the drag-bar up to therocker W, these connections being so made in two parts that they mayshorten their lengths under compression;Y, a spring upon each of theconnections X to resist such shortening of the connection; Z, ahand-lever with an ordinary detent segment for raising and lowering thedrag-bars, and Z a two-part connection, similar to connections X,connecting the rocker W with the lever Z and capable of shortening undercompression and similarly provided with a spring to resist theshortening.

The machine is supported by the front wheel and the two rear wheels, andby the drillhoes when in action. The central drag-bar L has no sidemotion, only the usual rising and falling motion, and it straddles themain wheel E, and its strains are all central. The drill-hoes are heldin normal position with reference to the drag-bars by the springs S; butthese springs yield in case of extraordinary obstruction to the hoes andallow the hoes to yield backwardly and then recover their position. Theforce with which these springs S act may be adjusted by moving thefulcrum-bolts '1 back and forth in their slots in the drag-bar. Thepoints of attachment between the rear ends of the springs T and the hoesbeing a trifle above the pivots which unite the hoes to the drag-bars,itfollows that the first part of the yielding motion of a hoe will exertan endwise pressure upon the spring T, and that as soon as the rear endof the spring has passed below the general plane of the spring itsfiexion will be resisted only by the elasticity of the spring.Consequently the drill-hoes will be held in normal position withconsiderable force by the springs T, but will yield with comparativefreedom aftersome extraordinary obstruction has caused a hoe to springback a trifle from normal position.

The working depth of the hoes may be regulated by the lever Z, and theentire group of hoes is held down by the strength of the spring onconnection Z, the yielding of which spring may allow the entire group ofdrag-bars and hoes to rise; but each drag'bar has its own independentconnection X with the rocker V, and each of these connections has itssprings Y, which springs will be light compared with the spring onconnection Z. The result is that each of the hose may yield upwardlyindependently, as controlled by springs Y, and that the entire group mayyield upwardly, as controlled by spring connection Z. The outerdrag-bars are subject to peculiar vertical strains due to certainrocking of the machine, and the adjustable weights V serve as means forincreasing the load upon these drag-bars.

By inspecting Fig. 3, it will be observed that the drill-hoes are equaldistances apart. By moving lever O forwardly, the inner ends of levers Hare moved forward and the two outside drill-hoes are moved closertogether, the outside drag-bars rocking with the lovers H. At the sametime the inner drag-bars M are moved inwardly by the rocking of the levers H. If the inner drag-bars moved inwardly the same distance as theout-er dragbars, then the distance between the outer drillhoes and theintermediate drill-hoes would not be altered, and the object is tomaintain equal distances between all the seed-rows, no matter what thatdistance may be. It will be observed that as the inner members of thebifurcations of the inner drag-bars are connected, not to the levers H,but to the front cross-piece of the frame, those drag-bars will movesidewise only half the distance moved through by the outer drag-bars. Itfollows that the simple movement of the lever 0 adjusts the distancesbetween seed-rows and maintains the distance equal between all the rows.

When the implement is in use, obstructions like standing corn are liableto exert inward pressure upon the outside drag-bars. These drag-bars,while of ordinary stiifness, might spring inward some, either oneoutside dragbar or both, and thus interfere with the equality ofdistance between seed-rows, and this would happen if the levers H afteradj ustment were made rigid, but spring Q represents the rigidity of theadjustment of the levers H, and it follows that any force actinginwardly on either one of the outside dragbars and moving that drag-barinwardly will cause the other outside drag-bar and the two innerdrag-bars to move inwardly, also, and in proper proportionate degree, sothat at all times the distance is equal between the several seed-rows,and when the disturbing obstruction is passed, the drill-hoes willreturn to the side position for which they are adjusted.

We claim as our invention- 1. In a seeding-machine, the combination,substantially as set forth, of a frame, a driving-wheel mounted inhangers fixed under the forward end of said frame at the center of itswidth, a pair of wheels under the rear of the frame at its extremity ofwidth, a rank of drill-hoes disposed across under the frame between saidforward and rear wheels, and drag-bars connecting said drill-hoes withsaid frame forward of the plane of the axis of said driving-wheel.

2. In a seeding-machine, the combination, substantially as set forth, ofa frame, a wheel under the forward portion of said frame at its centerof width, a pair of wheels under the rear portion of said frame at itsextremes of width, an odd number of drill-hoes arranged in a rankdisposed below said frame between said forward and rear wheels, adrag-bar attached to the center one of said hoes and extending forwardof and straddling said front wheel and connected with the front part ofsaid frame, and drag-bars engaging the other hoes and extending forwardof and outside said front wheel and connected with the front port-ion ofthe frame.

3. In a seeding-machine, the combination, substantially as set forth, ofa drag-bar, a drill-hoe pivoted thereto, a spring having its forward endattached to said drag-bar and having its rear end connected with saiddrillhoe forward of the pivot uniting the drill-hoe to the drag-bar, anda sliding fulcrum-bolt secured in said drag-bar under said spring.

4. In a seeding-machine, the combination, substantially as set forth, ofa drag-bar, a drill-hoe pivoted thereto, aspring attached at its forwardend to said drag-bar and attached at its rear end to said drill-hoeforward of and above the pivot uniting the drill-hoe to the drag-bar,and a fulcrum supported by the drag-bar below the intermediate portionof the spring.

5. In a seeding-machine, the combination, substantially as set forth, ofa frame, a central wheel under the front of the frame, two side wheelsunder the rear of the frame, a rank of drill hoes across under the framebetween the front and rear wheels, drag-bars connecting the hoes withthe forward portion of the frame, and sliding weights upon the outsidedrag-bars only of the rank of drag-bars. 6. In a seeding-machine, thecombination, substantially as set forth, of a rank of drillhoes,drag-bars connecting said hoes with the front portion of the frame ofthe machine, a rocker disposed across over all the drag-bars,independent spring connections between said rocker and the severaldrag-bars, and a spring connection from said rocker to a rigid abutmentsupported by the frame of the machine. 7. In a seeding-machine, thecombination, substantially as set forth, of a frame, outsidedrill-hoes,inside drill-hoes,a pair of connected levers pivoted to theforward portion of the frame, drag-bars engaging said outer drillhoesand connected with saidlevers, and dragbars engaging said innerdrill-hoes and bifurcated at their forward ends, one member of thebifurcation being attached to the appropriate one of said levers, andthe other member of the bifurcation being attached to the forwardportion of the frame.

JOHN M. FENDER. JOHN L. RITER. Witnesses:

JOHN B. MACY, A. E. J OHNSON.

